You all probably remember Dwight Howard saying his team, the Magic, would win the NBA championship with great confidence. Why? Because he thought his magical sky daddy could “fix” the game for them to win. Dwight’s exact words were, “God. That’s the reason, I’m telling you.” We all know the outcome…the Lakers won and the Magic lost.

And after the Magic – Celtics game 7 on May 17:

“First, I want to thank God, man, because without Him none of this would be possible. I told my guys before the game if we come out, we play 100%, play hard for 48 minutes, then God is gonna do the rest, and He did it tonight. We got a good victory, man — it’s all because of Him.”

So where was his god vs the Lakers? His god liked the Lakers better? I’m with others who are tired of the media giving time and serious consideration to the god nonsense.

Love this comment by Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com:

If God really favored Howard and the Magic, God would make it so Howard connected on more free throws.

I wish just once that a reporter would ask a person why any god would care about sporting events and favor one team or player over another.

I love what Daily Kos had to say about it:

So let me offer a suggestion to Dwight Howard and all athletes who choose to use the camera to thank God for their victories in sports: It is okay if you don’t. Honestly. I will not think any less of you as athletes or as persons for believing in a higher power, and I’m sure that most fans wouldn’t mind if you chose not to promote your belief that God helped you win that game. If you wish to express gratefulness for anything, please be grateful for the fact that you are playing a game as your full-time job. Be grateful for the fact that millions of people look up to you and admire you and follow you all year round in the hopes that your team wins. Be grateful for the fact that you are skilled enough to be working in a profession that not only pays a huge amount of money, but that only a very small handful of people in the entire country ever get to do. Be grateful for the fact that you can do sports for a living when millions of families living in poverty, who live with no roofs over their heads, often cannot even get enough food to survive.

Ramen to that.

We all Wiki to some extent, do we not? (Personally, my favorite is Answers.com – it provides far more multiple cross-references to different sources than the wiki version, and besides, it provides some pretty nifty tools to add to your browser and right-click menu.) Now it can’t be considered a primary source, mostly due to the fact that anyone can go in and edit sections. (Hey, I’ve done it myself on occasion, mostly to correct egregious errors, like an old Wiki page for the Negative Proof fallacy that claimed that believers and atheists shared the burden of proof.) The honor system principle is much like the concept of communism – they’d both work well if people understood the concept of sharing.

So the latest news is that the Xenubites have officially been excommunicated from the Wiki site. I (of course) don’t agree with the author’s article for the most part – Scientology is a vicious viral meme, and should be treated with iron fists, no velvet gloves allowed. There’s  rumors that they’ll try to start their own Wiki (think Conservapedia, only a lot crazier with the martyr complex), but we’ll see.

Norway is considering prosecuting Scientology for fraud. Another smart nation, France, is also following suit (pun intended)

An online opinion survey released by the White House this week ranks legalizing pot, playing online poker and cracking down on Scientologists as far more important issues.

And (no surprise here) Axiom 10 productions is actually policing the wimps at YouTube, demanding that any videos unfairly persecuting providing incriminating evidence against their religion cult be removed.

And in other news (not necessarily good), there are now schisms in the cult, and there are actually splinter sects known as Free Zones (and the folks that belong to these are called…you guessed it, Free Zoners). So now I’m guessing it won’t be long before there’ll be a ‘No True Scientologist’™ fallacy making the rounds.

On a different note, there is now a Freethought Pedia – definitely worth a look see.

Till the next post, then. Read more »

The Secular Coaliton for America was invited to the White House. Call me a cynic… but, if Dobson/Robertson/Warren, et.al., get face-time with President Obama, why didn’t the SCA?

White House Meeting Marks New Milestone for Nontheists (June 1, 2009)

The nontheist movement reached a new milestone when the Secular Coalition for America had its first individual meeting with White House officials last week. Although the Secular Coalition had met with White House officials before, this meeting was significant as it was the first private meeting focused solely on nontheists’ interests.

The discussion, held with White House Associate Director of Public Engagement Paul Monteiro, gave Secular Coalition representatives the opportunity to highlight what policy issues concern nontheists most. Specifics topics addressed were coercive religious proselytizing in the military, the faith-based initiatives, and employment discrimination.

As the broadest and most diverse advocacy group for nontheists, the Secular Coalition has the credibility to provide our nation’s leaders with an understanding of nontheists’ political and cultural interests. More importantly, this meeting is evidence that nontheists are becoming an influential and increasingly organized constituency, and that elected officials want to take our concerns into account.

The goal of the Secular Coalition has always been to increase the visibility of and respect for nontheists in America. This meeting was one small step for the Secular Coalition, but it was a significant leap for nontheists everywhere.

Come on, folks!  Is Ron Millar, acting SCA director, completely ga-ga over Obama?  Just another “crusher”?

I am not black but I’ve been around long enough to know that pre-Civial Rights battles, good little black folk were advised on advancement:  Sit down, shut up and don’t rock the boat — and you’ll get along real well.  Doctors, educators — hell, even Jackie Robinson! — and anyone else who aspired to something better and higher than the little niche whites approved for them were convinced by parents and peers to become invisible.  Conventional wisdom swore that that was the road to success.  That was why they “got” their own colleges and fraternities/sororities:  so that whites didn’t have to associate with them or (*gasp*) worry about them wanting to be your “frat-brother”.

Of course, it was harder to be invisible when your skin wasn’t white.  And whites were watching the “ladders” just to make sure only white feet were on the rungs.

And don’t you dare marry a white person!

Gays?  It’s easier to stay in the closet and get by — no worries about skin tones.  Ask any gay who wants to run for office.  Only Barney Franks and Tammy Baldwin are openly gay.  The Democratic Party is not ashamed of them.  The GOP is rumored to have several gays; I’m sure you’ve heard the same names I have.  Notwithstanding Michael Steele, the Republican Party is made up of, almost exclusively, Old White Rich Fundamentalist-Christian Men.

So, back to Millar and his meetup:   How much progress can we look forward to, based on his gushing press-release?  White House Associate Director of Public Engagement Paul Monteiro?  In DC-speak, Monteiro is nothing:  if you’re not the Director or the Deputy Director, you can assume “associate director” is a jumped-up file clerk.

This, mi compadres, is NOT progress.

I can’t tackle Dr. Tiller, VonBrunn v Holocause Museum or DHS report on wingnut hate.  At least not tonight.  Religulously-speaking, not much fun-die is going on today.

So, tackle these.  Or talk about whatever.  Everything is on-topic.

From my clipboard, Bad Religion:

News of the Weird, 04.05.09

The Homeland Is Secure

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration ruled in January that a post-9-11 federal maritime law, which requires comprehensive background credentials for mariners holding U.S. Coast Guard authorization on U.S. waters, applies even to the two “mule skinners” who work, in tourist season, dressed in colonial costumes at the Hugh Moore Historical Park in Easton, Pa. The park’s lone mule-pulled boat is operated in a 2-mile-long canal that is near nothing of strategic significance, said the park director. [CNN, 2-25-09]

In addition to addressing the usual state homeland-security concerns, Kentucky’s statute requires anyone licensed as a first responder to disasters to take an oath against dueling (”I, being a citizen of this state, have not fought a duel with deadly weapons … nor have I sent or accepted a challenge (to duel), nor have I acted as second in carrying a challenge (to duel), so help me God”). Another provision requires the state Homeland Security Office’s executive director to “publicize” a legislative finding that “reliance upon Almighty God” is necessary to homeland security. [Kentucky Statutes Section 39G.010(2)(a), as reported in the lawyers' blog LoweringTheBar.net, 2-23-09]

Recurring Themes

That Sacred Institution (as practiced in villages in India): To prevent mysterious illnesses in the village, two 7-year-old girls were married, separately, to frogs (Pallipudupet, Tamil Nadu state; January). [The Times of India, 1-17-09]

To bring prosperity to the village, an elder married off two trees to each other (Subhasnagar, West Bengal state; February). [The Times of India, 2-9-09]

To overcome the effect of a baby’s odd-looking tooth, which is said to portend death by a tiger unless remedied, the 18-month-old boy was married off to a female dog (Jaipur District, Orissa state; February). [Agence France-Presse, 2-18-09]

For KA:

In November, the Swedish national newspaper Expressen revealed a 30-person bestiality ring operating out of a farm in southern Sweden, but the 45-year-old man who allegedly headed the group said his members were always respectful of animals: “Any of the times I did anything with (the dog), she was the one who backed into me and provoked it. She was in heat and made herself available. … There were also times later when she didn’t want to and then I backed out immediately.” [The Local (Stockholm), 11-11-08]

This is why bitches need  back-up alarms.  Beeh-beeh-beeh-beeh…

After the Eight-Year-National-Nightmare-that-was-George-Walker-Bush(TM),  I was looking forward to a respite from xian gobbledy-gook and dog-whistle code.  It seems my hopes are dashed.

President Obama is a xian, NOT a muslim.  I was satisfied on that subject very early on.  In fact, I heard it said by wingnut-pundits and ignored it.  Desperate fool/tools lie.  The greater the desperation, the balder the lie.  Duh.

For whatever it is worth, I’ve never felt “teh love” for Obama among atheists.  Liberals and liberal xians, yes.  They give off a sort of RockStarGroupie aura, “crushing” on him in shameful ways.  I like him but I feel a deeper kinship with his wife.  And, there again, we find a big “crush” factor.  Her clothes, her shoes, her bare-arms (awesome!) — but, still,  many are obsessed with her.  I just like her.  After dowdy Laura-Librarian, she is refreshing.  As for touching the QofE, Liz seemed less fazed than the media.  (Shades of Georgie’s casual manner with Ratzi!)

So, two articles arrive in one morning that are somewhat at odds.  First, Politico runs Atheists keep faith with Barack Obama.

…But while atheist advocates railed against Bush, they seem willing to give Obama a pass on his God talk — at least for now.

Nathan Bupp, director of communications for the Center for Inquiry, says that many nonbelievers view Obama’s invocations of faith as nothing more than a “symbolic gesture” used to aid his quest for social justice.

“There is a sense where secularists are politically savvy enough to do this,” says Bupp. “They realize [Obama] is not doing what he’s doing for Pat Robertson-type reasons.”

…

Politico then presents a companion piece, Obama invokes Jesus more than Bush.  But, again, they dissect the issue and find that there may be complex political reasons:  spike the muslim issue, soothe the national community (especially the MiddleEast), disarm the fundies, re-empower the liberal xians and more.

Guess who likes it?  Tony Perkins, Family Research Council’s rectal-spokesman(TM).

Obama’s invocation of the Christian Messiah is more overt than Americans heard in the public rhetoric of Bush in his time in the White House — even though Bush’s victories were powered in part by evangelical voters.

“I don’t recall a single example of Bush as president ever saying, ‘Jesus’ or ‘Christ,’” said Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Christian group Family Research Council. “This is different.

To Perkins, Obama’s overtly Christian rhetoric is a welcome development from an administration that he largely disagrees with on the issues, though Perkins sees a political motive behind it, as well.

“I applaud that. It gives people a sense of comfort,” Perkins said. “But I think it’s a veneer, a facade that covers over a lot of policies that are anti-Christian.” That includes, in his view, Obama’s stance in favor of abortion rights.

And guess who DOESN’T like it?  Rev. Barry Linn, AmericansUnited.

“I don’t need to hear politicians tell me how religious they are,” Lynn said. “Obama in a very overt way does what Bush tended to do in a more covert way.”

Also, David Kuo, …

…a former official in Bush’s faith-based office who later became disillusioned with the president he served, worries that both men have exploited religious phraseology for political gain. “From a spiritual perspective, that’s a great and grave danger,” he said. “When God becomes identified with a political agenda, God gets screwed.”

Screw David Kuo.  I want Obama to be an atheist,  Failing that, I want him to be a liberal xian.  After all, wasn’t his mother a secular-humanist?  Since he was brought up by his maternal grandmother, I wonder how infected he is.  Granny might  have been of a Rock-of-Ages, Old-Time-Religion faithful.  We do know that he was a regular congregant at the church of his media-whore pastor, Rev.Wright.  Does that tell us anything?  Nope.  A man’s thoughts are his own.

I, too, professed to a belief I never had…

This just landed in my inbox. From MotherJones online: LA’s Retailers Get Religion

[...]

At Forever 21, Jesus Hearts You Too:

Chatting with the Changs, the super-private, devoutly Christian, South Korean couple behind discount clothier and mega-mall staple Forever 21 (headquartered in LA’s Garment District) is so tricky that not even the New York Times can do it. Fortunately, you don’t have to look far to find out exactly how the Changs feel about Christ: Printed on the bottom of every neon-yellow shopping bag is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Gee, thanks. Can I have my $2 tank-top now? Honestly, if they loved the world, they’d use biodegradable bags.

In-N-Out Burger—Serving Christ (With That) for 60 years:

John 3:16 also appears prominently at the popular West Coast hamburger chain In-N-Out Burger, whose diner-style decor and Animal-Style fries have delighted generations of high school students since it first opened east of downtown LA in 1948. The verse is printed along the bottom of your Coke—but the Bible references don’t end there.

Milkshakes feature Proverbs 3:5 and Double-Doubles (two patties with two slices of cheese) are swaddled in Nahum 1:7. Perhaps oddest of all, all your hamburgers and cheeseburgers reference Revelation 3:20, which reads: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

Hungry for more? Although LA is ahead of the pack, the home of sun, smog, and religious zealotry isn’t the only place where faith and fast-food cross paths.  We’ve also heard tell of Bible versus on Alaska Airlines dinner trays, VeggieTale Happy Meals at Georgia-based Chick-fil-A, and Christian coffee cups at New England donut purveyor Bess Eaton.

[...]

It’s official:  I will no longer eat at In-and-Out Burgers (a genuine shame! — cholesterol aside, their burgers and fries are superior), or at Chick-fil-A (not my favorite fast food purveyor).

I find this both creepy and dishonest.  It’s one thing to rip-off well known brands and re-jigger them with faux-clever parodies.  But to sneak bibble verses onto cups and wrappers that will be tossed into the trash (!) makes no sense.  What’s the purpose?  To please your xian customers?  Or just to pander to a deity that you expect to grant you a place in heaven?  Or just a lucky-rabbit-foot fetish?

OR…am I missing something?

From vatican.usembassy.gov:

The United States Embassy to the Holy See, is located on the Aventine hill in the beautiful Villa Domiziana, which was built as a private residence in 1953. In 1994 the United States government acquired the property as the new chancery for the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See.

Formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See were established in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II. The mission works in partnership with the Holy See on global issues including HIV/AIDS, world hunger, religious freedom and human rights. As a global entity, the Holy See is influential on many issues and has far-reaching influence in even the most remote corners of the world.

Why in the name of reason do we have an embassy devoted to the Holy Roman Catholic Church???  We treat no other church in the world this way.  And rightly so.

Celebrating 25 Years of Formal Diplomatic Relations between the U.S. and Holy See Rome, January 13, 2009 [press release posted on .gov website]

In honor of the 25th anniversary of formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See, the U.S. embassy on January 13 convened an international conference on the American model of church-state relations. More than 200 officials, academics, diplomats, and students seized the opportunity to examine the success of the American system in enabling many religions to not only co-exist peacefully but to flourish. Three noted American experts on constitutional law laid out the history, and current understanding, of church-state relations in the United States.

They were joined later by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Italian Senator Marcello Pera for a roundtable discussion on similarities and differences in church-state relations between the United States and Europe. Media coverage was extensive. Journalists from major Italian and international news outlets, such as Panorama and the New York Times, were present; Ambassador Glendon conducted an on-camera interview with Rome Reports. At the event, Embassy Vatican distributed the published proceedings of two earlier conferences commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Who knew the Vatican respected Universal Human Rights?  Amazing.

Just think how much money we could save by closing the embassy down.  Not enough to balance the budget but, hey, POTUS asked for suggestions on how to cut costs.

Honestly, I enjoyed Bush’s disrespect for Ratzi when he met with him in Rome.  I’d love to have seen the poop’s face when Georgie-frat-boy said, “Hey, howya doing?”  Ratzi must have looked like Angela Merkel when GWB touched her…

Seriously, we must shut this embassy.  Let our embassy in Rome take it over –  it can’t be very far away.  After all, the Vatican is just an enclave, completely surrounded by Rome.